Healthy environments mean healthy counties

Our View

April 16, 2012

Way to go Charlevoix and Emmet counties.A set of reports released earlier this month show the two counties are some of the healthiest in Michigan and both improved on last year's rankings.The County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program helps communities create solutions that make it easier for people to be healthy in their own communities. It focuses on specific factors that are known to affect health, such as education and income.The rankings program, which is now in its third year, helps illustrate what can be done to create healthier places to live, work, learn and play. The program is the only tool of its kind that measures the overall health of each county in all 50 states on the multiple factors that influence health.Out of Michigan's 82 counties studied, Charlevoix County ranked 14, up from 18 in 2011. Emmet County ranked seven, up from nine last year. The healthiest county was Leelanau.Linda Yaroch, health officer for the Health Department of Northwest Michigan said, "The county health rankings are important because they help us identify factors that are making it difficult for residents to maintain a healthy lifestyle and understand how we compare to other counties in the state. It's encouraging to see improvement across the health district."In addition, the study helps the health department paint the picture of how surroundings contribute to health. Those factors include graduation rates, poverty, the number of grocery stores and farmers markets, and unemployment.Bottom line — Yaroch summed it up best when she said, "It's easier to be healthy if you live in a supportive, healthy community. Health is impacted by where you live, work and play."But of course, there are areas for improvement.With the new information, the Health Department of Northwest Michigan is facilitating the "Mobilizing for Action through Planning & Partnerships" model with financial support and leadership from Charlevoix Area Hospital, McLaren — Northern Michigan, Otsego Memorial Hospital and the Northern Health Plan.Data collection is under way and the department is working on how they will use it to get insights about quality of life and community assets.Committees are being formed, and anyone can take part.We encourage those who are interested to get involved, because the more we talk about what we can do to better our communities and living environments, the healthier we will be.

Those interested in taking part can contact Jane Sundmacher at (231) 347-5041 or at j.sundmacher@nwhealth.org.